Real Estate Schools
The demographics of students at California’s real estate licensing schools are as diverse as the state’s population, school managers say.
A classroom in which 50% or more of the students is female is not unusual, according to teachers and managers. Some of the women are professionals interested in making a career change or augmenting their income. Women from the nursing and teaching professions are often represented, according to licensing school managers.
Some of the women are recently divorced or single and are looking for work. Others are married and hope to create a second family income or are looking for part-time work to supplement the household income, managers and teachers say.
Men--both blue-collar and professional--are also well represented. The blue-collar workers are usually trying to prepare for a career change, managers say. The professionals--lawyers are common--often want to augment their income.
Racial minorities are a sizable portion of the student body. Managers also say seniors--people who prefer work to retirement or people looking to augment retirement income--are also present.
As home sales and prices in California have risen sharply, so has the number of courses offered by real estate licensing schools.
There were only 23 real estate licensing schools and 194 course sections in December, 1984. In all, 381,933 homes were sold in California that year, and the median price was $112,470.
By the end of 1987, 512,447 homes had been sold, and the median price was $139,420. The number of schools for agents and brokers more than quadrupled--it was 98 in December, 1987--and the number of class sections offered went up by about a third, climbing to 319.
Managers at most of the major schools say enrollment this year has been rising compared to 1987, which was a good year for most of the larger licensing school companies.
Even the most competitive businesses usually have a trade association to lobby for common goals, but California’s contentious real estate licensing schools haven’t been able to get that far.
“There have been attempts to organize,” said W. A. McAlwee, president of Oakland-based Anthony Schools, a chain with 32 schools. “It’s been tried, but the competitive urge is too strong.”
Without an industry association, representatives of the state’s licensing schools have no forum for seeing each other on a regular basis. Still, they see each other very well on a competitive basis, according to state regulators and executives in the industry.
“There’s an interest in the competition,” said Steven Crane, vice president of the Lumbleau Real Estate School, a Van Nuys-based chain with schools in 21 California locations. “We like to know what they’re doing and what they’re charging. If they offer a new (educational) course that’s of interest, we have to respond.”
Lumbleau and Anthony are recognized as the industry leaders in California. But the precise size of the industry is not known because that calculation is normally done by an industry association.
Smaller schools often try to increase business by advertising in newspapers. For example, E.R.A. School of Real Estate, which is based in the Sacramento suburb of Woodland, advertises in the Sacramento Bee and touts lower rates than its competitors.
Such advertisements sometimes lead to price wars, according to Michael Wurmbrand, administrator of Anaheim-based American Schools. “It’s like gas station wars,” he said. “One school will offer a course for $88.95, and the next day in the paper another will counter with $77.95. But you can’t maintain quality when you slash prices. . . . In the long run, quality prevails.”
SOLD! Sales of existing single-family detached homes in California.
Number Median Year Sold Price 1987 512,447 $139,420 1986 488,335 131,530 1985 405,149 117,930 1984 381,933 112,470 1983 343,129 112,590 1982 234,269 110,020 1981 336,461 106,040 1980 464,336 98,040
Source: California Assn. of Realtors
